Commons
Debate
20 April 2026
Security Vetting
The Prime Minister wants us to focus on process and not his judgment, but this entire sorry episode is the direct result of his decision to make a direct appointment to one of the most senior roles in the FCDO of somebody who was wholly inappropriate for that role. Will the Prime Minister at least c…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 April 2026
Police Federation
The hon. Member says that policing is often a thankless task. On behalf of the House, I pay tribute to and thank him and the many other fantastic police officers, including in Dorset police, for their work. The hon. Member talks about the fairness of representation. I had a constituent whose daughte…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 April 2026
Cost of Heating Oil
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) on securing the debate. Around 15% of households in West Dorset rely on heating oil as their sole source of heating, and in some villages, including Yetminster, Bradford Abbas and Longburton, the proportion is almost half of…
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 April 2026
4 contributions
Ground-mounted Solar Panels: Alternatives
It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I congratulate the hon. and gallant Member for Spelthorne (Lincoln Jopp) on securing this important debate.
I confess that I had prepared to do far more debunking of climate-denying nonsense, given some of the statements by the hon. and ga…
My hon. Friend is 100% right. Wherever possible, we should generate and use on site. The problem so often—I will come to this point in my speech—is that the value of anything that is exported to the grid fundamentally underlines any kind of investment model when we are looking at on-site generation.
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 April 2026
Middle East
In his statement, the Prime Minister said that he wanted to double down on NATO. President Trump has attempted to use the threat to withdraw from the NATO alliance to blackmail other NATO countries into joining his illegal endeavour in Iran, and he has threatened to annex the sovereign territory of …
Commons
Debate
12 March 2026
2 contributions
Fire Station Closures
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Melksham and Devizes (Brian Mathew) on securing this important debate, and I thank him and the Minister for giving me permission to speak. I am in danger of repeating many of the points that my hon. Friend made, but they are important points, and this is …
I fully accept that an increase in the precept would be one option available to the Government, but I would also like to challenge the Government on the underlying assumptions in Treasury funding models, not least with the forecast population growth and the lack of rurality in many of the funding mo…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 March 2026
Disability Equipment Provision
I thank the hon. Gentleman for securing this important debate. I agree with absolutely everything he has said. He talks about the problem with access to equipment; I know of one case, which is representative of many that come across my desk, that concerns the inability to hand back equipment after u…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 March 2026
3 contributions
UK-based Tech Companies
It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Betts. I congratulate the hon. Member for Bromley and Biggin Hill (Peter Fortune) on securing this important debate. I suspect that, at this point, I am in danger of labouring the points already made by other hon. Members, but I will persist. Perhaps…
I certainly agree that, if we want to become a market or world leader in a particular technology space, it is vital that we channel funding and support into those areas where we have the most opportunity and a competitive advantage.
Climate technology is not only an environmental priority, but a hu…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 March 2026
2 contributions
Rough Sleeping: Families with Children
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
I appreciate the steer from the Chair and apologise for the late arrival. My hon. Friend talks about the wider structural issues that drive homelessness, one of which is the winner-takes-all system when it comes to benefits. In that system, families that are breaking up may split child custody on a …
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 March 2026
9 contributions
English Rugby
I beg to move,
That this House has considered Government support for English rugby.
It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. Although I confess it is tempting to use this 30 minutes to talk about the disastrous result at the weekend, I will instead stick to the topic. I am a rugby ro…
I agree wholeheartedly and am sure that the Minister will take the opportunity to speak to that pledge.
Most importantly, grassroots clubs are where the future of the sport begins. They are where the next England star first learnt to pass, make a tackle and score a try. Yet many grassroots clubs ar…
+7 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
4 March 2026
2 contributions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
I am sure I am not alone in having been contacted by constituents trapped in the middle east or by those further afield who were hoping to transfer in the middle east on their way home. I am extremely grateful to all the FCDO staff around the world who are helping them out. It has brought into stark…
I thank the right hon. Member—I have the huge privilege of serving under her chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Committee. I do not disagree that the British relationship with the United States goes far beyond the current occupant of the Oval Office. I am extremely grateful for the depth of our rel…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 March 2026
China: Foreign Interference Arrests
I praise the work of our police and our security and intelligence services in this case. I thank the Minister for his statement. Like him, I look forward to the publication of the Rycroft report. The Foreign Affairs Committee heard evidence from the Electoral Commission, as did the Joint Committee o…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 March 2026
Environmental Protection and Biodiversity
It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I join other Members in congratulating the hon. Member for North East Hertfordshire (Chris Hinchliff) on this important debate. I, like many others, would love to speak about a whole host of things, but given the time constraints, I will just…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 March 2026
Middle East
The Iranian regime is a murderous regime. It is an exporter of terrorism, and a threat to regional and national security, and its removal is good for British security and good for the Iranian people. However, what comes next is even more important than what has happened. The Prime Minister has repea…
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 February 2026
Local Transport: Planning Developments
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted (Victoria Collins) on securing this important debate and on her continued work in this policy area.
In West Dorset, the issue with planning development is not just abo…
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 February 2026
Firearms Licensing
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Commons
Debate
11 February 2026
4 contributions
Police Grant Report
The 2026-27 settlement delivers a cash increase nationally but once again fails to address the structural unfairness faced by rural forces such as Dorset. It does not properly reflect rurality, seasonal population increases or the cumulative impact of more than a decade of underfunding. Dorset polic…
I thank my fellow Dorset MP for his intervention. He will know that we welcome a huge number of tourists, who are vital for our local hospitality and tourism economy. While we want people to come, this does put an incredible strain on our local police forces and the funding needs to reflect that pop…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 February 2026
Rural GPs: Funding
In a similar vein to the previous intervention, one in five GP buildings predate the NHS itself, which is a quite staggering fact, and over a third of GPs say their premises are no longer fit for purpose. In places such as West Dorset, outdated buildings struggle to deal with the current population,…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 February 2026
3 contributions
New Medium Helicopter Programme
I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for giving way. He will know that many people who work at the Leonardo site live in West Dorset and commute. The company is responsible for providing training and apprentice opportunities for thousands of my constituents. I feel like every strategic …
I do not disagree with the points the Minister is making, and Lord knows I am happy for us to dedicate the rest of the debate to bashing the previous Administration for their failures. He talks about the need to future-proof decision making. Part of the problem that we have with defence procurement …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 February 2026
9 contributions
Independent Water Commission: Final Report
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the Independent Water Commission Final Report.
I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting the debate, and my co-sponsors across the House and the all-party parliamentary group on water pollution, of which I am an officer, for their support i…
During my speech, I will outline some such recommendations. This is a good opportunity to thank Surfers Against Sewage for all its hard work. Like my hon. Friend, I use the app regularly before deciding whether to swim at my favourite beaches.
It is an understatement to say that the public’s confid…
+7 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
5 February 2026
Topical Questions
Following Storm Chandra, vast swathes of West Dorset are under water. An amber warning is in place, and we are expecting more flooding. Whole villages have become islands. Eighty-four houses in Yetminster have sewage in them. One family in Maiden Newton had only just moved back into their house foll…
Commons
Committee Stage
5 February 2026
10 contributions
Railways Bill (Twelfth sitting)
I beg to move amendment 254, in clause 64, page 36, line 14, at end insert
“and the higher amount does not hinder progress against the Rail freight target set out in section 17.”
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. It will escape no one that, in the absence of my hon. Friend the Member for Didcot and Wantage, I have been left with my hand on the wheel. I do not think trains have a wheel, but I am not entirely sure how they work— [ Interruption. ] Th…
+8 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
5 February 2026
Railways Bill (Eleventh sitting)
It is a pleasure to speak under your chairship, Mr Western. I wanted to speak briefly in support of new clause 52, which, as the hon. Member for South West Devon indicated, was tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell. It would introduce a duty on train frequency, which is something m…
Commons
Debate
4 February 2026
Lord Mandelson
In evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee after Mandelson had been withdrawn from Washington, the Cabinet Secretary said that a summary of the developed vetting and conflict of interest report was given to the Prime Minister prior to Mandelson’s appointment, and the Prime Minister appeared to con…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 February 2026
Postal Services: Rural Areas
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I congratulate the hon. Member for South Shropshire (Stuart Anderson) on securing this important debate. As every postie and every Liberal Democrat deliverer knows, rural delivery is hard. Homes are harder to find, walks between addresses …